Benedict XVI to celebrate
first feast day Mass of Newman?
Translated from
This newspaper has learned that Benedict XVI will be celebrating the Mass of Blessed John Henry Newman tomorrow [in his private daily Mass], the first celebration ever of teheliturgical feast day of the English cardinal whom he beatified last Sept. 19.
The text for the Mass and Liturgy of the Hours for Newman's feast day was approved months ago by the Congregation for Divine Worship and can be found in Latin and English here:
www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Calendar/National/Newman.pdf
The feast day of beatified persons is generally celebrated only in their country of origin because veneration of Blessed ones has a local character, in contrast to the universal veneration of saints.
The Congregation for Divine Worship has not received any request from British dioceses for final authorization to celebrate Newman's Mass, and that for now, it can be celebrated only in the churches of the Oratorian priests (Newman's order) anywhere in the world.
And by the Pope, of course.
However, there is this news from the United Kingdom:
England prepares to celebrate
Blessed Newman's first feast day
October 7, 2010
This Saturday, October 9, parishes in England will have the opportunity to celebrate for the first time the feast day of Blessed John Henry Newman.
This is being seen as one of the tangible first fruits of the Visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the UK; one which will have a lasting impact on the Church in this country.
His Grace, Archbishop Vincent Nichols will be celebrating a Mass of Thanksgiving for the Papal Visit which will coincide with the first Feast Day:
At the Mass of Beatification in Birmingham on 19 September 2010 Pope Benedict XVI said:
The definite service to which Blessed John Henry was called involved applying his keen intellect and his prolific pen to many of the most pressing 'subjects of the day'.
His insights into the relationship between faith and reason, into the vital place of revealed religion in civilized society, and into the need for a broadly-based and wide-ranging approach to education were not only of profound importance for Victorian England, but continue today to inspire and enlighten many all over the world.
A note on the date: It is customary for a Saint or a Blessed to be celebrated on the day of their death unless it is impeded by another celebration. Blessed John Henry Newman died on 11 August 1890. The Church across the world celebrates St Clare on August 11 and so another date was sought.
October 9, which was the day when Newman converted to Catholicism, was also appropriate because it falls at the beginning of the University year - the university was an area in which Newman had a particular interest.